VISION AND MAIN DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE

The NSS development for the 2008–2012 period is founded on the vision, that NSS is a system, which produces and disseminates objective, timely and accurate statistical information by using in full the possibilities of contemporary information and communication technologies and observing the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice.

The main objective of NSS development during the 2008–2012 period is to improve the development, production and dissemination of statistical information about all user groups by improving the institutional capacity of the system and speeded implementation of contemporary information and communication technologies under the conditions of Bulgaria‘s full EU membership.

The official statistical information – product of NSS – is intended for analyses and scientific studies, planning, prognosis and taking managerial decisions on micro and macro level. The statistical information products and services are directed to the:

• bodies of state administration and local authorities;
• business and non-government organizations;
• scientific and academic society;
• mass media;
• EC, UN, IMF and other international organizations;
• individual citizens.

The vision of NSS development implies observance of the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the principles laid down in the European Statistics Code of Practice. The following principles play a leading role in the system‘s activity for the 2008–2012 period:

• political independence and impartiality of statistical activities;
• active collaboration and cooperation within NSS and with the statistical systems of other European countries;
• high professional knowledge;
• high quality of provided information products and services;
• respect for respondents.

BASIC GOALS:

The main objective of NSS development for the 2008–2012 period implies achievement of the following basic goals:

• developing the methodology, extending the contents of the existing statistical surveys and introducing new surveys and indicators in conformity with users‘ needs and priorities of the Community Statistical Programme, 2008–2012;
• improving the production, dissemination and storage of statistical information;
• improving NSS environment, information infrastructure and resources.

The information needs undergo constant changes. The statistical science regularly develops the methodology of statistical surveys. Everyday information and communication technologies provide new opportunities for speeding up and making easier the processing and analysis of statistical data. All this necessitates constant extension of the contents of the existing statistical surveys and implementation of new surveys and indicators in conformity with users‘needs. During the 2008–2012 period, the Bulgarian statistics, being a full ESS member, will fulfill the engagements stemming from the Community Statistical Programme, 2008–2012 and the newly adopted EC Regulations relevant to conducting pilot statistical surveys within the Community and improving the statistical methodology in concrete thematic fields.

Production of statistical information is impossible without the timely and quality provision of primary data from the business, households and citizens. From the view point of society, an effective NSS is the system, which produces useful and important information about management on micro and macro level at the lowest costs possible. Crucial condition for the successful dissemination of statistical information is its provision in a form easy to interpret and convenient to access. Under the present-day conditions of utmost importance attached to the information about management and everyday life, NSI is also facing the necessity of providing additional statistical products and services, differentiated by user groups. All this puts in the foreground of NSS development the objective for the improvement of all stages of production of statistical information – from the methods, forms and organization of primary data collection, through the methods of data processing and data storage, and compilation of concrete statistical indicators up to the contents, coverage and ways of dissemination of produced statistical products and services.

The NSS sustainable development is impossible without an appropriate legal framework and functional environment. Since 2007, NSS has been working under the conditions of full EU membership of the country. With regard to this, extending the cooperation with Eurostat and the national statistical systems of the remaining Member States is a crucial condition for full integration of the national statistics within ESS. Well-trained and motivated human resources are the key factor of carrying out the NSS mission and achieving the main development objective, laid down in the Strategy for the 2008–2012 period. An integral part of the development of human resources and improvement of the system‘s effectiveness is the issue of reconsidering the functions within NSI Head Office and RSOs units and thus reorganize the structure of staff in compliance with the new priorities and objective realities of the development of official statistics. Last but not least is the provision of an appropriate information infrastructure needed for the production and dissemination of statistical information.

The main objectives of NSS development, formulated in this way, are predetermined by the following:

• users' needs;
• priorities of the Community Statistical Programme, 2008–2012;
• importance of the results of statistical surveys for development, application and monitoring of different policies;
• degree of response burden;
• expenditure for conducting surveys.

PRIORITIES

Priorities of NSS development, important for implementation of the basic goals for the 2008– 2012 period, are as follows:

• reduction of response burden on reporting units;
• improvement of statistical information quality;
• improvement of statistical information storage and dissemination;
• speeded implementation of new ICT and integration of IT activities within NSS;
• development of human resources and improvement of labour conditions;
• development of European partnership and international cooperation;
• achievement of more effective interaction and coordination within NSS;
• promotion of confidence in official statistics.

Beside the mentioned general priorities, NSS has specific priorities of development relevant to elaborating the methodology, extending the contents of the existing statistical surveys and implementing new surveys and indicators in each thematic field:

• demographic and social statistics;
• macroeconomic statistics;
• business statistics;
• agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics;
• multi-domain and regional statistics.